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Soros’ yen “avalanche” would appear to have begun with the yen having fallen by 9.5% against gold in 5 trading days since last Thursday leading to record nominal highs in the yen at over 0.1577 million yen per ounce this morning.

The higher gold prices have led to a curious anomaly in Japan where the public has again been selling gold in cash for gold schemes, often due to being under financial pressure, while some Japanese investors and savers have diversified into gold coins and bars both of which have seen an increase in demand in recent days.

Today any lingering doubts that the market is a complete and manipulated farce were put to rest following the epic embarassment that was the early release of FOMC minutes due to what Steve Liesman announced was a leak of the March minutes yesterday to a hundred or so staffers and various lobby organizations, which means the minutes promplty became public knowledge to anyone and everyone connected to Washington, such as all hedge funds, banks, and other financial firms. Everyone, except of course, the general public. Which is why we politely petition the Fed to add us and all of ours readers to the early distribution list for the Minutes and all other releases that are leaked in advance of distribution to the general public. Since we have all given up on any pretense of a "fair and efficient" market, it is only "fair" (at least until such time that Chairman Bernanke decides to finally start throwing €500 and ¥100,000,000,000,000  bills out of helicopters).

We urge readers to make liberal use of the Fed's contact page and request "fair" and equal treatment with those who in the eyes of the Fed are more equal than all others.

April 5th, 1933, FDR confiscated every gold coin, bar, or certificate and people had to turn in their gold to the Federal Government or else they would face a fine of $10,000 or 10 years in jail. That is about $179,000 in today’s money.  You were able to keep a small amount or some rare coins and those that did give up their gold received about $20/oz.  “Why would the government do that?” asks Ms. Steel.  They did this for the following reasons:

1. To prevent hoarding.
2. To devalue the dollar during the Great Depression.
3. The government set the gold price at $35/oz and pegged it to the dollar.

“But this could never happen again, right?” asks Ms. Steel. “Well tell that to Texas.” 

When we updated last on the most recent happenings in Shanghai (and now various adjoining provinces) as a result of the spread of the H7N9 bird flu, which has so far taken 6 lives, we warned that it is "starting to have major spillover effects on the broader economy, such as mass slaughter of poultry at local markets - a move which will have certain inflationary effects to an economy already on the cusp of losing the war with the G-7's hot money." Indeed, while the human casualties may be promptly contained, it will be the downstream effects on the economy that will have long-term reverberations. As SCMP reports, following yesterday's spot checks at various closed Shanghai poultry markets, the H7N9 strain has been found to have infected local chickens. "The ministry said last night that 10 chicken samples from two markets in the Minhang district of Shanghai and at the Huhuai Farm Products Market in the adjacent Songjiang district had tested positive for H7N9. The virus was also found in two pigeon samples and seven environmental samples collected from these markets, out of a total 738 samples tested." The result has been widespread culling of chickens both in Shanghai and elsewhere, and while the government has been "generous", promising to pay vendors "compensation equal to at least 50% of the market price of the poultry slaughtered", the result is a complete collapse in all chicken-related sales.

Since the Financial Crisis erupted in 2007, the US Federal Reserve has engaged in dozens of interventions/ bailouts to try and prop up the financial system. Now, I realize that everyone knows the Fed is “printing money.” However, when you look at the list of bailouts/ money pumps it’s absolutely staggering how much money the Fed has thrown around.

The big driver of market declines Friday was led by the Non-Farm Payrolls report. The jobs data was a dreadful miss which leads to the major “disconnect” we’ve been seeing between stock prices and overall economic data which we posted just last week. This is the nagging and confounding reality of the QE and ZIRP grand experiment for many investors.

Yesterday we reported that the conclusion of the MF Global Trustee's 124 page report is that the collapse of MF Global, and the illegal commingling of billions in customer funds which may or may not have been recovered yet from JPMorgan and others, was all Jon Corzine's fault. Of course, courtesy of his special rank in the Obama administration, Corzine will never go to jail: after all justice in the crony states of America is only for the little people - those who don't bundle millions for the president, and those who don't run Too Big To Prosecute banks, or both at the same time, get a get out of jail card (literally). So if he isn't in minimum security prison, where on earth is Mr. Corzine to be found these days? The WSJ answers.

Today saw a massive short covering trade occur in the US Treasury market.  Is this a trade to fade??

UPDATE: Another Dutch bank - Rabobank - is apparently having 'technical' issues now

Following yesterday's discussion of the brink-like nature of the Dutch economy (and banking system), it is perhaps just a coincidence that ING is suffering from a major failure in its Internet Banking. It is unclear how many customers are affected but judging by the scale of responses on Twitter (#ING) it is widespread. Some customers are reporting overdrafts, and incorrect balances; and are reporting cards not working at supermarkets. We are sure this will just bolster confidence in uninsured depositors at the bank - especially since, as Ad.nl reports, no one at ING was reachable for comment.

Physical gold and silver demand remains robust in many markets internationally. Demand from the Middle East remains robust as seen in the near record imports of gold and silver into Turkey. Turkey’s gold imports climbed to an eight-month high in March as prices averaged the lowest since May, according to the Istanbul Gold Exchange. Silver imports rose 31% from a month earlier according to Bloomberg. Gold imports increased to 18.26 metric tons, the most since July. That’s up from 17.34 tons in February and compared with 2.91 tons a year earlier, data on the exchange’s website show. The country shipped in 120.8 tons last year. Turkey was the fourth-biggest gold consumer in 2012, according to the London-based World Gold Council. Bullion averaged $1,593.62 an ounce last month and is trading about 17% below the record nominal high of $1,921.15 set in September 2011.

• Cyprus leader invites family firm probe (FT)
• How the Fed fueled an explosion in subprime auto loans (Reuters)
• Wal-Mart Customers Complain Bare Shelves Are Widespread (BBG)
• JC Penney CEO gets no bonus, stock award after dismal year (Reuters)
• New Bird Flu Virus Kills 2 in China, Sparking WHO Probe (BBG)
• Algorithms Play Matchmaker to Fight 7.7% U.S. Unemployment (BBG)
• Fed hawk Lacker and dove Evans face off over inflation (Reuters)
• Infamous silver market "cornerer" WH Hunt Becomes Billionaire on Bakken Oil After Bankruptcy (BBG)
• Japan Auto Sales Fall on Subsidy End as Korea Extends Drop (BBG)
• Black Hawks Near North Korea Show Risk in U.S. Command Shift (BBG)
• SEC Embraces Social Media (WSJ)
• Tesla Touts ‘True Out of Pocket’ Financing for Model S (BBG)
• U.K. Banks Try to Dodge Bonus Caps by Defining Risk-Taker (BBG)

Gold rose 1.1% in March, its first monthly rise in six. 

For the quarter, gold was 4.5% lower in dollar terms and 1.4% lower in euros. However, signalling that the demise of gold is greatly exaggerated, gold is 3.7% higher in Japanese yen and 2.6% higher in sterling.

As one astute financial journalist said to me “ ‘cash in the bank’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it anymore.”

As the holiday weekend starts and quarter ends, what better time is there to go out on a new S&P 500 Index high? The new high was in the cards.

One thing bulls should worry about is a report that pension plans may rebalance as much as $29-35 billion out of stocks to bonds and other assets with the quarter end. We’ll see how that works this coming week.

Well, that was a fun day, eh? Spills and thrills the whole day long.

Importantly, it’s the end of the quarter and performance bonuses are on the line. So any excuse to rally is built in to conditions.

Just your ordinary run of the mill Russian billionaire oligarch in exile who had so much money he was terminally depressed... or just the opposite, and the first tragic casualty of the Cyprus capital controls which are about to eviscerate a whole lot of Russian wealth (and ultraluxury Manhattan real estate prices)? From RT: “Just got a call from London. Boris [Abramovich] Berezovsky committed suicide. He was a difficult man. A move of disparity? Impossible to live poor? A strike of blows? I am afraid no one will get to know now,” the lawyer said on his social network page."